Envelop.



No. 793,495. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

S. AKIYAMA.

ENVELOP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. so, 1904.

s9ifneaaex 071122011211. @fi/mmmw 5% j 'ama/ NrTEn STATES ratented June27, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

ENVELOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,495, dated June 27,1905.

Application filed November 30, 1904. Serial No. 234,915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAM AKIYAMA, a subject of the Emperor of Japan,residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEnvelops, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to envelops, and relates in particular tosafety-envelops-that is, to envelops which cannot be opened after havingbeen sealed without betraying the fact that they have been tamperedwith.

The object of my invention is to provide an envelop of the classdescribed in which if it be attempted to open the envelop after it hasonce been sealed certain integral parts of and attachments to theenvelop proper will be so marred anddisfigured as to at once disclosethe fact that the envelop has been tampered with.

' In carrying my invention into effect I provide the envelop proper witha lining of fragile paper, such lining extending throughout the envelopand constituting an inner seal and being so constructed and arrangedrelatively to the envelop proper that any attempt to open the envelopwill result in the destruction or partial destruction of the material ofwhich such lining is composed, so as to show that an attempt has beenmade to open the envelop.

In addition to the safeguard afiorded by the fragile lining abovereferred to I provide my improved envelop with an integral seal, whichis so constructed and arranged as to overlie a portion of one flap ofthe envelop, this seal being perforated, so as to render it impossibleto detach it from the surface to which it is secured without tearing ormarring it so as to show that an attempt has been made to open theenvelop.

A further feature of my improvement consists in serrating the edges ofone or more flaps of the envelop, so as to provide an additionalsafeguard against surreptitious opening of the envelop.

A still further feature of my improvement consists in providing anenvelop with a plurality of seals,'one of which is located between twooverlapping flaps of the envelop, so as to secure them together, and theother of which is attached to a tongue formed integral with one flap andwhich overlies the adjacent flap, so as to secure the two flaps togetherand prevent either of the same from being opened without marring theseals. The last-named sealthat is, the seal which is attached to atongue on one of the flaps-constitutes a novel feature of my improvementin itself, and it may be used in conjunction with the first named sealor by itself, as may be desired.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, whereinFigure 1 is a plan view of an envelop constructed according to myimprovement with the end flaps in closed position and the side flaps inopened position. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the envelop with all theflaps in opened or extended position. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on theline 00 r of Fig. 2. Fig. Iis perspective view of one of the outerseals. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the envelop shown in Fig. 1 with all theflaps thereof closed. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of myimprovement, showing the envelop with one of the side flaps open. Fig. 7is a plan view of the envelop shown in Fig. 6 with all the flaps closed,and Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view on the line y y of Fig. 7.

The envelop which I have shown is of the usual contour--that is, it isof oblong rectangular form and is composed of the central part A, thetwo end flaps B B, and the two side flaps C D. The parts A, B B, C, andD constitute the envelop proper, and these parts are lined with a sheetof material E, which conforms in shape to the envelop proper, but is ofsomewhat smaller size, so that aspace or margin is left all aroundbetween the edge of the material E, which forms theliningand the edge ofthe envelop proper, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Thelining E is composed of any suitable fragile material; but I preferablyemploy thin waterproof paper, which will not only serve, as will behereinafter apparent, as an inner seal to prevent surreptitious openingof the envelop, but will also serve as a water or moisture proofcovering for the contents of the envelop. The lining E is attached tothe outer covering or envelop proper at any suitable point or points,and I prefer to attach it at or near the termination of the end flapsB Bbefore any of the flaps are folded over, and when the end flaps arefolded over one of the side flaps of the lining I glue one edge of eachend flap to the edges of one side flap of the lining.

When the end flaps have been folded over and glued together and to oneside flap of the lining, the envelop will be in the condition shown inFig. 1, and is then ready to receive a letter or other inclosure, whichis inserted in the usual manner and inside the lining E. The envelopafter receiving its inclosure is closed by successively folding down theside flaps C D, each of which is gummed along the edge in the usualmanner, so as to secure their adhesion to the parts with which that maycome into contact. When the flap C is folded down, its gummed edge andthe gummed edge of the lining adhere to the surface of the end flaps BB, and the point of the flap will overlie and adhere to a portion of thelining E. After the flap (J has been folded down in position the flap Dis folded down so as to overlie a portion of the end flaps B B and alsooverlie a portion of the flap O, the gummed edge of the flap D securingthe adherence of this flap when folded down. As an additional safeguardagainst improper or surreptitious opening of the envelop I provide aplurality of seals F G, the seal F being pasted on the inner side of theflap D, while the seal G is located on the outer side of the flap 0 andis pasted to a tongue H, formed by cutting it out of the flap C, asclearly shown in Fig. 4. The seal F is gummed on its inner side, so thatwhen the flap D is folded down this seal will adhere to the outersurface of the flap C. When the flap D is first folded down, the seal Gis raised and turned backwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4:, andafter the flap D has been turned down and attached to the end flaps B Band to the flap 0 the seal G, which is gummed on its inner side, isturned down, so as to overlie the tip of the flap D, and is caused toadhere thereto by the gum on its inner side.

The envelop is shown in its fully-closed position in Fig. 5 of thedrawings, where it will be seen the seal G is in such position that itoverlies a part of the flap C and also a portion of the flap D. Theseals F and G are of paper and are preferably formed with serrated edgesto prevent their being removed without marring the same.

In Figs. 6, '7, and 8 I have shown a modified form of my improvement inwhich the en-. velop is constructed in substantially the same manner asthe one shown in Figs. 1 to 5that is, it is provided with the fragile ortissue lining E and is folded and secured in the same manner as theenvelop shown in those figures, except that I employ but a single sealK, this seal being preferably formed integral with the flap 0 and beingperforated, as shown, so as to so as to secure adhesion to the partswith which it comes in contact when the envelop has been sealed. Theedges of the flaps (land D in the envelop shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8 areserrated, as shown, to assist in preventing their being surreptitiouslyunsealed.

In the several forms of my improved envelop shown and described I preferto employ as a convenient means of opening the envelop a thread L, whichis placed along the line of juncture of the body portion A and the flapD within the lining E, one end of this thread being attached to one ofthe end flaps and the other end protruding a short distance beyond theend of the envelop, this thread serving as means whereby the envelop maybe readily opened, as when the thread is pulled it will tear both theinner lining and the envelop proper along one edge.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. An envelop composed of a body part, end flaps and side flaps, afragile lining extending partly over the end flaps and side flaps, whenthe envelop is closed, one of the side flaps being provided with asealadapted to be attached to the end flaps and to the opposite side flap ofthe lining.

2. An envelop composed of a body part, end flaps and side flaps,afragile lining extending partly over the end flaps and side flaps, whenthe envelop is closed, one of the said flaps being provided with a sealadapted to be attached to the end flaps and to the opposite side flap ofthe lining, and a second seal secured to a tongue cut out of the otherside flap, the said seal being adapted to overlie portions of both sideflaps.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

SAM AKIYAMA.

Vitncsses:

E. E. POTTER, K. H. BUTLER.

